


Green Tea Latte

by strawberryCC



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, College AU, Fluff, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Sweater weather, lilo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 01:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3191156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryCC/pseuds/strawberryCC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's snowing outside when Niall visits his favorite café, only to run into a boy with dreamy green eyes and a charming smile.<br/>Meanwhile, Lou has a crush on the manager, Liam~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun peaks up over the tall city buildings, diffusing a pretty orange tinge into the vast sky and thrown about clouds. It's the morning of December 1st and snow is falling at a gentle pace.

Niall smiles up at the colorful sky as he walks down the street towards his favorite cafe, his cheeks and nose are tinted a rosy red, only making his beautiful azure eyes pop out more.

Dressed in a soft oversized sweater, some tight jeans, and a snapback, he weaves through the crowds on the snow covered sidewalk. There are quite a few people out and about despite it being so early, and Niall sees plenty of couples holding hands, sharing scarves, and snuggling together under umbrellas.

Sure, Niall has been asked out before; he can make anyone laugh and is extremely athletic. He even plays guitar, a true chick magnet. Still, he's never met anyone who set off butterflies in his tummy.

He wants to be like them, these happy couples littering the streets during the holiday season. Wants to hold hands with someone and share scarves and cuddle. Maybe snuggle up together at his flat under a blanket with some hot coco watching a movie while the icy wind swirls outside.

These thoughts linger as he hums along with the song playing through his earbuds until his eyes settle on his destination. It's a fairly large cafe, exceedingly popular and frequented by pretty much everyone in town.

Its got two floors, the bottom consisting of, well, the cafe itself where the drinks are ordered and produced at the counter, plenty of tables and booths scattered around to seat everyone. It's rare to see more than half of the space empty.

The second floor hosts a cute bookstore with its own seating arrangements (comfy couches and love seats), in which the first floor cafe goers are more than welcome to relax and enjoy a book.

The entire storefront is glass (like those awesome Apple stores), allowing people inside to glance out and watch snow fall calmly from the sun-painted sky.

Niall props open the glass door adorned with a christmas wreath and a lit "Open" sign, waiting patiently for a mother and her excited child - sipping on what is most likely hot chocolate and clutching a small wrapped present - to walk out before stepping inside.

Sweet scents of caramel and vanilla swirl about the warm air in the cafe. Holiday lights decorate the tan walls, giving off enough light for you to see your surroundings, yet dim enough to maintain a cozy feel the blonde loves. In the far left corner of the room stands a grand, deep green christmas tree layered with strings of popcorn, cute ornaments, and lights matching the ones on the walls.

The cafe is known for setting up this tree every year during the entire month of December, and it has its own special tradition. Throughout the month, people place wrapped gifts at the base of the tree anonymously - small things, really - such as stuffed animals, coffee mugs, mittens, toys, and the like.

Everyone's allowed to place and/or take one (there is no pressure to give one if you take one, but most people do). No one knows for certain how this tradition began, but everyone contributes anyway.

Not only does it spread holiday spirit, it gives a little hope to mothers who can't afford much for their kids and Niall absolutely adores the look of glee on a child's face when they are allowed to reach under the cheerful tree and claim a present.

He walks over to the mass of foliage, pulling out a package from his messenger bag wrapped in snowman gift paper. He checks the security of the light blue bow on top before gently placing it among the small pile of gifts already collecting under the tree (and it's bound to grow-- it is only the first day of the month, after all).

Niall plants a single gift under the tree every week of the month until Christmas, but never takes one himself. The delight on people's faces when they take a present is enough for him.

It's a maroon scarf.

The shop is already full of giddy patrons as the blonde looks around to see if his favorite spot is taken. It's one of the small tables for two along the glass storefront (since he often visits the shop alone, he doesn't sit at the larger tables). Noticing his spot is open, he happily strides over to the counter to place his order.

"Niall!" the perky employee behind the cash register yips as Niall takes his earbuds out.

"Good morning, Louis!" Niall brightly replies. They have been friends for over a year now, but Louis got the job just a few months back. "Could I have a venti caramel latte?" he asks, pulling his wallet from his back pocket and handing Louis a five.

Stuffing his change back in his butt pocket, Niall briefly watches the boy work on his order before asking "How long does it take for you guys to set that huge thing up, anyways?", arm flailing in the direction of the tree. Louis startles a bit while pouring piping hot milk into the cup of coffee in his hands and a dreamy smile appears on his face. "I stayed until half past midnight with Liam last night to set it up. Zayn helped a bit after we closed but left early to sleep."

 _Oh_ , Niall thinks as he tries his best to hide the smirk sneaking onto his own face, the reason behind his friend's dreamy smile obvious now.

Liam, the manager of the half cafe half bookstore, is someone Louis' been eyeing for a long time. He is very fit, a member of his college's prized football team. He's the reason Louis even got the job, otherwise he would've been too lazy to apply for one. He also happens to be Niall's flatmate, and his best friend.

Zayn works as the main clerk at the bookstore upstairs. Girls and boys alike flock to him due to his handsome features, calm attitude, and artistic skills. He goes to the same college with Liam, Niall, and Louis, all of them sophomores, and studies art, using the money from the job to help pay off some of his student loans.

"No wonder Liam got home so late." Niall wonders out loud as he accepts the coffee being held out to him.

"Get used to it, too" Louis implies with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Niall laughs at his friend's suggestive attitude, only to be surprised by a large warm cookie shoved into his free hand. "I didn't-" before Niall can argue, Louis shakes his head and smiles proudly, "It's on the house, Ni, you do come here, like, every single day, it's the least we can do for a loyal customer such as yourself!" Niall looks down at the cookie, a toasty sensation erupts in his chest. "You know Liam will be fine with it." Louis states truthfully.

"Fine with what, Louis?"

Louis' eyes go wide, surprised by the sudden yet familiar smooth voice and the large hand on his shoulder.

He turns to look up at the manager, noting the suspicious tone in his voice before quickly stuttering out "I just gave Niall a cookie on the house, because he-" "-Yeah, thats fine." Liam cuts him off, sending an unbearably sweet smile towards Niall, nearly causing Louis to fall as his knees go weak.

Louis would be incredibly jealous right now had Liam been giving such a kind smile to someone else, but it's Niall. He knows Niall and Liam go way back, they're close, but not in that way. Liam is more like his overprotective big brother (even though their birthdays are a mere 15 days apart). They even share the same middle name.

"Thanks, guys." Niall smiles brightly, suddenly noticing the line that has been forming behind him. He waves them bye and walks over to his spot.

Plopping down on the high rise stool, he sets down his coffee and cookie before reaching into his bag for his math textbook.

He's got a test coming up soon and although he's already fairly confident about it, a little extra studying at his favorite cafe wouldn't hurt.

 

~~~

 

It's a week later and he aced his math test. Niall wakes up after a pleasant dream, smiling as he streches out his limbs.

A glance at the clock on his bedside table tells him he slept in a bit, for about an hour. However, he doesn't have any classes today and recalls his plan to spend all day at his favorite cafe.

After a quick shower and brushing his teeth, Niall throws on a pair of tight black jeans and a thick long sleeved flannel.

The snow falls a bit heavier this morning as he makes his way down the street, humming along with his music.

Upon entering the warm establishment, Niall swiftly reaches towards his bag, taking out this week's present to place under the tree before he smacks into something, hard.

He watches the back of the tall person he just ran into simply stumble forward a step, while Niall himself falls heavily on his butt.

He winces at the pain until he becomes aware of how empty his hands feel. "Shit!" he mumbles and looks at the floor around him to check for the missing item.

It's nowhere to be seen, he runs his fingers through his blonde quiff before a hand appears in front of him, offering to help him up. He takes the hand gratefully, eyes still searching the patterned floor around him until he catches sight of it, being held by the very person who helped him up.

Niall looks up in hopes of thanking the stranger, only to find his mouth run dry as he peers into a beautiful shade of green. He stares a while, until he realizes the stranger's ruby red lips are moving, but for some reason, all he hears is "- want to kiss you."

He blushes, noticing his earbuds are still feeding him music and hastily removes them.

"Are you alright?" A husky voice drawls out, snapping Niall's attention right back to green eyes.

He can't help but stare again, until he hears the high pitched giggles.

He looks around, finally noticing he and the stranger have snatched the attention of everyone in the room. Some people return their gaze back to their laptop or phone screens once they saw the blonde was alright. Others continue to watch and giggle, and Niall follows their stares directly to the attractive boy with dark curly hair in front of him.

 _He asked you a question_ , his mind barks. "Oh! I'm alright, thank you, my bums a bit numb, though" he manages, adding an awkward laugh at the end.

Then he feels it. It's like a jolt, at first. Something in his chest feels like it's exploding as he watches in awe. The curly haired boy is smiling. His emerald eyes relax as his lips curve into a brilliant smile, revealing dimples in his cheeks.

Woah.

"I'm glad, oh, you seem to have dropped this, yes?"

It takes until the mysterious boy's expression changes to one of worry for Niall to notice the gift he dropped earlier is being held out to him. His eyes dart to the small box. "Oh, yeah!" He acquires the gift, fingers tingling when they accidentally brush over the stranger's own.

It's a snow globe.

That's why Niall was so frantic when searching for it earlier. He had added a bit of extra bubble wrap to ensure its safety, and, seeing as the box isn't dripping with water, assumes it's still all in one piece.

A releived sigh escapes his lips, "Sorry for running into you, I wasn't looking where I was going." Niall apologizes, finding it hard to look directly at the glowing face in front of him and opting out to look anywhere else. The floor, the gift in his hands, the girls still staring at them, and back to the gift.

"Don't worry about me, you're the one that fell, and it was more likely my fault for stopping so suddenly."

Niall can't help but enjoy the lulling sound of every word as it rolls off the beautiful boy's tongue. He doesn't want it to stop- and it doesn't.

"I'm Harry."

Niall sees the hand reaching towards him again, and for a moment, doesn't understand why it's there. He was already helped up off the floo- oh.

He shakily grips the hand before him, "I'm-" "NIALL!!"

Both their eyes snap to the voice behind the cafe's counter. It's Louis.

"Hey Niall! You came late today, I was worried something happened!" Niall watches Liam lightly smack Louis' back for yelling so loud across the room and giggles when he hears Louis yelp. Then he feels the eyes on him. Slowly, he raises his own to Harry's gaze. There is something like fondness in those beautiful eyes, almost reminding Niall of the way Liam looks at him, but it's not exactly the same. It makes Niall's breath hitch and face heat up.

"I'm Niall." he feels a bit redundant when he says it, but the feeling gets replaced quickly with that odd warm sensation in his chest when Harry smiles again.

"Well then, I'm glad you're alright. See you around, Niall." Harry says before heading to the counter to place his order.

Niall wants nothing more than to follow the dreamy boy to the counter, but remembers his original task as his eyes settle on the gift in his hands.

He walks over to the tree, feeling jubilant at how the pile of gifts has grown significantly since the first day. Once he finds a good spot to place his own gift down, he looks up to admire the tree itself. The lights playfully reflect off the various ornaments and Niall briefly wonders if they replace the popcorn strands every week.

Green has always been his favorite, but color of the tree's pine draws him in deep. He quickly glances towards the counter only to be disappointed at the sight of someone other than Harry giving their order to Louis.

He drags himself to the counter, thoughts of ruby lips and dark curly locks invading his mind.

"What are ya having today?" He hears Louis chime. The Irish lad's head snaps up, previous thoughts diluting, seeing the customer standing ahead of him a few seconds ago has already been served. He takes a step forward. "Could I get a venti green tea latte?"

Before he could pull out his wallet, Louis smirks and declares "None of that! The cute tall guy with dimples already payed for 'anything Niall orders'", the last bit sounding a bit odd, Louis obviously trying and failing at reproducing Harry's accent.

Naill's face flushes red and Louis bursts into laughter, pointing at Niall as if he just told the best joke he's ever heard. Lou likes to make fun of things, one of those things being how flustered and pink Niall can get. Although, Niall can very well turn that around on Louis, while he is fine around most people, the way he acts around Liam is just embarrassing.

The color green. It's the only thing the blonde can think about.

Liam is cleaning the espresso machine behind Louis and for a moment, Niall swears he could see something flash in manager's eyes. He can't tell if it's his over protective brotherly instincts towards Niall being made fun of, or a smidgen of jealousy from the certain choice of words Louis spoke earlier - " _cute_ tall guy" - or maybe both. Probably both.

Once he receives his green tea latte, he heads towards his usual spot, eyes locked onto the color of his drink as he debates whether or not he should drink it.


	2. Chapter 2

The curly haired boy doesn't show up for the whole rest of the week, which bums Niall out.

It's already the third week of the month and he's searching his closet for some cute wrapping paper -he forgot to prepare it the night before- eventually settling on the green one, heading over to the wooden desk in his room, on it's surface lies the gift itching to be covered in paper and tied with a bow.

Finally wrapped, Niall stuffs it in his bag and heads out.

It's not snowing this morning, Niall strides towards the cafe with his earbuds playing a love song; he hasn't noticed the only songs he's been listening to recently are romantic.

He walks inside, taking out his earbuds as he collides with a body.

Déjà vu

Only this time, it's not Harry. Niall quickly apologizes to the old lady who just nods in return and walks away.

Then there's a hand on his shoulder, and Niall finds himself looking up into those eyes. The ones that violated his thought proccess all week.

"You alright, Niall? You seem to have a bad habit of running into people." The husky voice comes with a chuckle. Niall's blood starts to rush, heating up his skin all over.

"I- uh, no, yeah. I'm alright, thanks to you- Ah, I mean, thank you" Niall is on cloud nine, not only does he get to see Harry, but the attractive bloke even remembers his name.

"NIALL!! You're late again, you gotta text me or something these mornings, because I get worried, you know!" He hears Louis shout across the room and briefly wonders if he enjoys getting hit by Liam when he hears a short yelp a few moments after.

The blonde ruffles through his bag and finds this week's gift, motioning towards the tree, and feels bubbly when Harry walks him there. Harry's strides are a bit slower than his own, but much longer, on account of the height difference. On his tippy-toes Niall is still shorter than the Cheshire lad. "What have ya got today?"

Niall lets out a questioning hum towards Harry, not quite grasping his question.

"Your present."

"Oh" Niall turns the object around in his hands, "It's a superman action figure." he looks at it fondly, "My nephew was ecstatic when he got one just like it last year, so I thought it would be a good gift."

Harry's reply is cut off by a loud "SUPERMAN?!" An unusually hyper Zayn bounds in their direction.

Now, Zayn is a calm, cool, and collected artist. No one can argue against that, but once he hears anything superhero-related he basically turns into a 10 year old boy.

"Niall, did you say superman? Are we talking comics, shows, movies, or-" "No, none of those, it's a present for the tree" Niall quickly interjects, nervous as everyone's attention in the cafe turns on him for second time this month, only this time due tho Zayn.

His nerves melt away when he hears Harry laugh. "Never change, man, never change." the laughter subsides as his green gaze shifts to his watch. That's when Niall notices the tattoos. He's been too busy focusing on Harry's eyes and smile and laugh to notice them earlier.

Harry is wearing a short sleeved shirt today, heavy coat draped over his shoulder. Niall's eyes study the ink on his wrist, only to travel up his arm, observing even more dark marks in Harry's skin. His eyes reach the hem of Harry's sleeve and flicker over to his exposed collar bones, the large open neck shirt revealing plenty. Or not enough. Definetely the latter. There are symmetrical tattoos peaking just over the shirt's collar, almost teasingly. Niall finds himself wanting to remove the cloth from Harry's body, to trace his fingers over each mark on his tan skin, and maybe even run his tongue over them.

He snaps out of his trance when he notices a gaze on him, and Niall's baby blues shoot up to meet Harry's eyes. The taller boy's red lips flash a slight smirk before saying "I need to head to class, see ya around, Niall." The blonde feels a gentle pat on shoulder as the tall bloke walks past him and out the glass door.

"You know, Harry always laughs when I bring up superheroes, but I know he likes them, too!" Zayn argues when Niall's eyes widen at the now-empty space infront of him. "You know Harry!?" Niall blurts out, snapping his neck to look at Zayn.

"What? Harry? Yeah, Harry Styles- he goes to our college and is in my science class, even though he's a freshman. Smart, that one. I'm surprised you haven't met him earlier, he comes in nearly everyday just like you, granted a bit later than you, and heads up to the bookstore for a few hours."

Harry Styles. It sounds so perfect all Niall can do is repeat the name in his mind over and over.

He can't help but smile, Harry goes to his college and not only is he hotter than the sun, he's smart, too. Zayn looks confused when Niall fans himself with his hand.

Best of all, he knows he will definitely see Harry again. He practically skips past Zayn to the tree and sets down his gift. He gently caresses a pine needle between his index finger and thumb, feeling butterflies in his stomach.

Louis watches Niall skip over to the counter and order a drink. "Venti chai latte, please" the blonde sings.

Warm cup in his hands, Niall sits at his usual spot, smiling as he looks out of the glass storefront and watches as the snow just barely begins to fall from the sky.

 

~~

 

Great. Somehow Niall had forgotten it was finals week and he had to refrain from visiting the café in order to eliminate all possible distractions for studying.

Whenever Liam had a break from work he would help tutor Niall with the tougher subjects, the blonde would repay him is hugs and cheek kisses. He really couldn't make it without Liam.

"It's finally over!" Louis explains dramatically from behind the counter, arms flailing around. It's christmas week now, and finals are over. "Yeah, finally" Niall echoes, eyes jumping about the room.

"Looking for someone~?" Lou purrs and Niall's face burns up. Of course the feathery haired lad found out about Niall's infatuation, and the blonde curses himself for being so obvious. Hopefully Harry hasn't noticed.

The sweet scent of warm chocolate chip cookies are filling his lungs and snow is falling outside the shop, lights sparkling from every tree. Niall eventually decides to give his order.

"Two of whatever he's having."

That wasn't Niall's voice. The blonde turns, happily surprised by the green eyes that look into his own blue ones.

"Good morning, Harry" he swoons. "Morning, Niall, I quite like your sweater." he chuckles out.

Niall is wearing a festive christmas sweater Liam bought him last year, and it happens to match the one Harry's got on. The blonde reflects the smile, internally thanking Liam and planning on getting him the best present ever.

They take their drinks to Niall's spot and there are a billion questions swirling around in his mind. What's your major? How tall are you? What product do you use in your hair? How many tattoos do you have?

He settles on keeping his mouth shut, knowing he was more likely to stutter out something embarrassing than something logical, and instead focuses on Harry's lips as he sips his hazelnut latte.

The silence gets to him so he ruffles through his bag, retracting a gift, this one is wrapped extra carefully and tied with a gold ribbon.

He takes a deep breath as he places it on the table and slides it towards Harry with an index finger.

Of Course he brought a gift for Harry, the boy was the only thing on his mind for half a month already. He thought of giving it to the green-eyed prince on Christmas, but he knew Harry already had plans that day, probably visiting relatives or going on a date with his girlfriend (he's bound to have one, Niall tells himself).

"Another for the tree?" Harry asks gleefully.

"N-no, I already put one.. there. This one's for you." Tugging hard at the hem of his holiday themed sweater, he's unable to look away from Harry, feeling an unmistakable heat rise in the pit of stomach.

The silence breaks after a few minutes of them just intensely staring at each other.

"I didn't bring anything to give you."

"No, no, no- I wasn't expecting anything in return," Niall holds his hands out infront of himself, shaking them in a hectic manner. "It's just something I saw that made me think of you (even though everything makes me think of you), it's nothing much, just a comic." He got one for Zayn, too, the latest issue of their current favorite. Hopefully Harry didn't have it already.

He drops his hands in his lap, inspecting his palms. "Besides, you already bought me drinks, twice."

Bits if laughter draw their attention towards the counter. Liam, Louis, and Zayn are all behind it, trying to compose themselves.

"Make out already!!" Louis manages to yell out and earns a large hand clasped over his mouth, Liam looks towards Niall apologetically before dragging Lou through the employee's only door.

Niall can't suppress the awkward laugh that bubbles out of his system, not knowing what else to do.

"Are you free Christmas Eve?"

His laugh gets caught in his throat and he coughs to releive the pressure that builds up as a result. He almost chokes out a "Me?" but it's quite obvious all of Harry's focus is on him.

The blonde chews on his bottom lip anxiously, not noticing Harry's eyes watch as the tissue swells red.

He is free - he didn't plan to hop on a plane and visit his family up in Mullingar like usual this year, instead saving his money for a trip in early Febuary to surprise his big brother Greg on his birthday.

Harry continues, "Zayn told me about the party this place hosts every Christmas Eve." He taps his finger against the table, emphasizing that 'this place' means the cafe. "You thinking of coming?"

The cafe does indeed hold a party every year before Christmas. It's mostly attended by college students and there are lots of liquor and gift exchanges and the occasional couple making out against tables. That's what Louis told him, anyways. It's a nice way for everyone to unwind after their finals.

"Yeah, sure, I don't have other plans." Niall smiles brightly at the thought of spending the holdiays with Harry.

"Great," Harry declares cooly. A glance at his watch before standing, present and coffee in his hold "I'll see you there, then." He watches Harry leave the shop until something heavy falls onto his back, Louis, to be specific.

"Look who's got a date with a sexy freshman~!"

"Louis, your break hasn't started yet" Liam says sternly, approaching them both and tugging Lou away by the collar.

Lou is wrong, it isn't a date, they're just going to a party, but Niall wishes it were true as he sips from his own hazelnut latte, trying to ignore the butterflies in his tummy.


End file.
